Column: wish list

by Josh Hamel

Sony’s PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale already looks impressive, but they only showed six characters and four stages during the reveal of the mashup brawler. Here’s my list of characters, stages and features I’m expecting and hoping Sony announces for the game.

Characters

Sony first party characters will make up the bulk of the game’s roster if I had to bet. Luckily the publisher has a long history of great characters to work with.

Wander/Ico – While Team Ico’s latest game may never actually come out, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are two the of most beloved titles from the PlayStation 2 era. It would also be nice to get a little ‘art game’ in this brawler.

Sackboy – We already know a LittleBigPlanet stage is included in the game and Sackboy is all but a sure thing to be included in the character roster, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting it any less. Who doesn’t want to see a knitted puppet take on Parappa?

Ratchet – The Ratchet and Clank series is one of the best Sony has to offer. I think the Lombax could hold his own against any other fighter from the PlayStation universe, and that wrench could be a powerful weapon.

Cole McGrath – This inFamous hero would be a great addition to the character roster. He has great projectile weapons with his red and blue lightning and can also get up close for some melee. It helps that Sucker Punch’s other famous franchise, Sly Cooper has already been announced for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale. This one’s all but guaranteed.

Nathan Drake – Another pick that is sure to come to fruition as Drake heads one of Sony’s most popular franchises. I would even bet his old pal Sully or Elena will join him by the time the final roster is announced, or at the very least as DLC.

Knight – If the Knight can conquer the world of Demon’s Souls, there’s little doubt he could take down any of the previous characters mentioned, especially if the world tendency is in his favor.

Third-Party Characters

Developer SuperBot said they were open to including third-party characters which presents a wide range of possibilities.

Cyborg Raiden – While Snake is the namesake of the Metal Gear Solid series, he has already appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sony will probably want to differentiate themselves from the already similar title and go with Raiden as the representative for the series that helped make the PlayStation brand famous.

Leon – Similar to Chris Redfield in Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Leon S. Kennedy could easily be a fighter in PlayStation All-Stars. Resident Evil was one of the biggest series on PlayStation and fan-favorite Leon makes the most sense to include from the franchise.

Big Daddy – Staring down a Big Daddy was one of the most terrifying experiences in the original Bioshock and including one in the roster would make for one of the most powerful fighters in the game.

Cloud – Final Fantasy VII is another franchise that helped define PlayStation in its early days and Cloud remains one of the most loved characters in the series. Not to mention that sword of his could do some serious damage.

Stages

Sony has already revealed stages based off LittleBigPlanet, God of War and Buzz! but I believe they are missing a few that have a lot of potential.

Journey – A level based off thatgamecompany’s latest title Journey would work really well and look stunning if they manage to pull it off right.

Twisted Metal – Sweet Tooth is already in PlayStation All-Stars but a stage with destructive car combat possibly influencing the level could be cool.

One last request of Sony is cross-compatibility between the PlayStation 3 and Vita. Street Fighter X Tekken and Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom already have this capability and I would love to play this game if I don’t have access to my console and TV.

What do you think I missed? What characters are you hoping Sony includes in PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale?

LittleBigPlanet Karting is coming to a PlayStation 3 near you in November! Sony has announced the date you can get your hands on the next addition to Sackboy’s universe, and they’ve also given us some video snippets of the different game modes we’ll be able to experience upon release.